Elania was in a foul mood as she hauled not only her backpack but also Taniel's basket of 'probably-won't-explode-moss' as well. Her teeth still hurt, although she thought that might have just been ghost pain because her injuries had all magically corrected themselves. The suddenly erupting new teeth to replace the missing ones was a horrible experience she was not in a hurry to relive.

Tanyan's explanation of the other Monk's sudden attack didn't exactly sit well with her either. She had put Taniel’s words together after the fact as meaning he thought she had attempted to collapse the cavern on top of the other monks as they went through the collapsed passage. That was horrifying, and she realized he did have a point, the passage was unstable, and she had caused it to shake more than just a little with the Alpha’s crash into the wall. That hadn’t been her intent, but she saw how he could have come to that conclusion… if he thought the absolute worst of her, which he obviously did.

Tanyan had handed her the once-orange-now-blue orb that came out of the Alpha Ralfot and told her it was a Monster Core. They formed in certain monsters near 'dungeons' and could amplify people's emotions and powers while being especially useful as crafting ingredients. It was hers now, as an apology for the attack. She was level 40 now, and only ten levels away from getting her next attribute, but that and the orb were not much comfort for the thrashing she’d gone through.

Her first question as he handed it to her was if it was going to suddenly turn her into a giant like the Alpha or make her go off on a bloodlust filled rage like Taniel.

"It shouldn't affect you like the Alpha Ralfot, and you should be immune to the other effects."

Elania still wasn't completely appeased and glared at the little blue orb for a moment before tossing it in her backpack. If what he said was true the little blue orb had caused a lot of trouble, even if it was valuable.

In this instance, the ‘Core’ had affected Taniel’s animosity toward her, and not for the better. She had slightly zoned out during Tanyan’s long explanation about emotional resonances and how ‘Monster Cores’ worked, even though she should have paid attention. Elania found herself glancing over to the unconscious monk repeatedly, wishing she could shake him awake and shout at him.

That was a fun, but bad idea, but each time her arm bothered her, she couldn’t help but glare behind her at the novices and Taniel. It still felt like little bone splinters were working their way back into place.

The party continued on the stony path for several more hours, the monotone trudge being broken when one of the novices stumbled his hand catching on her backpack for support. That brought the ragged party to a stop. Tanyan looked back at the three novices, concerned about the unconscious Taniel who had almost spilled out onto the stone while Elania shot an annoyed look at the younger novice stammering an apology.

The Martial Monk still had not woken up since the fight, and although Tanyan had done some fancy healing magic that made his hands glow with yellow-white light, Taniel wasn't expected to wake for a day or two. That was highly inconvenient for the novices, as Elania had refused to help carry him, and Tanyan had to stay at the front as he was the only one left that had any inkling or clue about what path to take to reach the next waystation.

"How do you know we’re going the right way?"

"It was just a few days ago we went through here."

"Why didn’t we go around the cave-in then?"

"That was new. I might not know the way as well as Marcus or Taniel, but I can get us to the next station. It isn't much farther." Tanyan smiled at her in what seemed to be an attempt to reassure her, but Elania found it forced. Everyone was aware of how tattered things had become with the downing of another party member.

Reaching the waystation was a good short-term goal, but Elania saw it as just a stepping stone to making it to the city of Neftasu. From what she understood, it was a small underground city, with thousands of people. It had some type of triumvirate system with three guilds overseeing the day-to-day workings with some type of noble council of mages being the rulers.

"What about an adventurer's guild?"

"A what? Why would adventurers have a guild?"

"Well... to do quests? For the nobles and other people who need things done?"

"No one would want to have a guild of adventurers. Those sorts are not well-liked anywhere. They cause all sorts of problems, looting ruins and unleashing undead curses. Riling up sleeping dragons in their lairs and causing them to go on fiery rampages. Ruining local economies with gluts of money. Consorting with d...”

Tanyan cut himself off before finishing his sentence, obviously for her benefit. He explained with such a matter-a-fact deadpan that made her have to accept it as not a joke—riled up dragons? Undead Hordes? What kind of fucking world had she ended up in?

“Most cities ban adventurers.”

The path was becoming less and less smooth, and now they struggled up multiple three-foot-high ledges. That was slowing them down, especially with Taniel lying comatose on a litter.

Right, so adventurers had a bad rap. Do not associate with adventurers, got it. Elania wanted to ask what the Conclave's duties were but skipped over it. Far more important was finding a way to earn some money and take care of herself while she figured out what she needed to travel to the surface.

"So, no adventurer's guild. What about the rangers? You said they act as guides for groups that need to travel?"

"Well, yes. There are guilds for various important professions. Ranger's guild. Mage's guild. The biggest is the Mercenary guild which contains all sorts. You generally aren't permitted to join more than one, they usually demand loyalty from members."

"But no adventurer's guild," Elania said, finding it a bit silly that specific one, which was the cornerstone of probably half the literature on earth, didn't actually exist.

"No, none of those."

She kept pestering him, trying to get a feel of what the city was like, and was relieved when he informed her she wouldn't be banned from the city for being a demon. Although they were all bound by contracts to mortals in general, demons were not that uncommon.

Being an unbound demon would cause issues because demons like her were considered a danger—mostly because they were not under someone's control. From what Elania had picked up, the authorities didn’t actually check to see a contract’s specifics, so it was entirely possible that it was often the demon who was pulling strings anyway, usually, to steal someone's soul. Classic. That, she had to admit, was a shitty thing to do, and probably why she had been getting such a cold welcome from everyone she met.

Why exactly Demons wanted to ‘steal someone’s soul’ wasn’t exactly made clear to her. The only thing she could put together and guess at was that it had something to do with Power and Essence and probably improving themselves. She wasn’t exactly sure how that worked nor had she any mechanics in the [System] that indicated a soul would be desirable to steal.

People had two general ideas about her race; She was either a cunning-soul stealer that tricked people, or a barely sentient monster that was only held in check by commands.

She eyed the [Demon Contract (1 Available)] attribute on her sheet. It was considered a potent magic that could enforce anything contained in them. Soul Magic.

'Don't sign the dotted light without reading the small print and making sure the other party isn't some super-genius lawyer-devil. Got it.'

Elania wasn't sure if souls and essence were the same thing, but if other Demons had 'Power' and needed it to survive, then it made sense they'd need a way to acquire some without killing everyone. Although that was exactly what she had been doing, which probably would not be an option for any demon living inside the city. It also made her wonder if demons had the same attributes she did.

Elania doubted it. The demons she had fought didn't have [Regeneration] at least. The bones the Bone Demon had left behind indicated he was often eating something… so he probably didn’t have [Self-Sustenance] either. She wondered just how that changed the equation of needing Power to survive for him as opposed to her. She already knew she could survive without breathing much less eating or drinking, as long as she has some Power in reserve.

Since it had come up, she wanted to figure out how the [Demon Contract] thing worked, so she tried to bring up the ability. She was getting better at manipulating and working with the menus and popups over time, and she was a bit surprised there wasn't a skill for 'System usage' in her list.

With a frustrated breath, she took a moment to figure out the exact process for bringing up the screen she wanted. When it finally complied, she quickly noticed drop-down boxes and open fields that could be filled out.

'Oh, that's handy... and it seems really free-form. I wonder what limitations it has?'

The screen was split into two sections, one for the 'Contractor' and the other for the 'Contractee,' which both had areas for requirements and failures. The default contract was a bit distasteful.

[Contractor: Elania Reyes]

[Contractee: None Specified]

[Duration: Indefinite]

[Essence Upkeep: Contractee 0.04/hr]

[Contractor Requirements]

Contractor shall protect Contractee from harm to the best of their ability.

[Contractee Requirements]

Contractee shall provide Contractor with sufficient essence to sustain them for the contract's duration. Contractee shall not seek any harm to the Contractor on purpose. Contractee shall render their soul to the Contractor upon death.

[Contractor Penalty Clause]

Contractor shall forfeit any right to Contractee's soul upon violation of their requirements.

[Contractee Penalty Clause]

Contractee shall forfeit their soul and life immediately upon failure of any violation of their requirements.

The Contractee would instantly die and give up their soul if they broke the contract? So souls were a thing? She didn't like that—and just as the thought crossed her mind, the field suddenly turned blank. Seeing how easy it was to manipulate the contract terms, she immediately started playing with it and found everything completely customizable.

'Why can't everything else work this easily?'

A few minutes and one tripping accident later, she had a new contract that made her smile.

[Contractor: Elania Reyes]

[Contractee: None Specified]

[Duration: Two Hours]

[Essence Upkeep: Contractor 1/hr]

[Contractor Requirements]

Contractor shall protect Contractee to the best of her ability!

[Contractee Requirements]

Contractee will truthfully answer three questions per hour! Contractee can decline to answer a question at the cost of having to answer an additional question!

[Contractor Penalty Clause]

Contractor will refrain from asking any questions to the Contractee for one hour!

[Contractee Penalty Clause]

Contractee shall be forced to sneeze, and the contract will be broken!

The only thing she couldn't change was the 'Essence Upkeep' field, although she could change who had to pay it. However, the upkeep cost was exponentially higher if she paid for it. Her customized contract 'Questions!' contract would theoretically cost her one 'Power' per hour.

"Hey, Tanyan."

"What?"

"Want to sign a Contract with me?"

She almost felt bad as he stumbled and nearly fell as he turned to look at her in horror.

'Oh well, I should have expected that kind of reaction.'

"N—no. Members of the Conclave aren't permitted to consort with demons!"

How was she supposed to offer the contract anyway? Then she realized she still needed to fill out who the Contractee was.

[Contractee: Tanyan]

She filled out his name, which resulted in a green box with a checkmark forming at the bottom of the screen. She smiled and pressed it without hesitation. Her finger went through it without any tactile sensation, but it worked in any case.

'So easy! It’s nice to have something to press, too.'

The box flew away from her rapidly and settled in front of Tanyan. Judging by the way his eyes bulged, he could see the screen now, too. Or whatever version of his [System] showed him. That was neat.

The whole party was brought to a standstill. The novices all stared at Tanyan, murmuring to each other with disappointment.

"Senior..."

"How could he—?"

"Don't do it!"

To his credit, he did seem to consider the contract and read it before the screen turned red. He reached up and then spun it around in the air then pushed it toward her. Elania felt her jaw drop.

"Wow! You can move the screens around like that?"

Tanyan looked at her warily and turned away, gesturing for the party to keep moving.

"I told you, members of the Conclave aren’t permitted to consort with demons. Just ask your questions!"